It might seem counter-intuitive, but taking psychoactive drugs could be an effective way of motivating people to start exercising and to exercise harder, a professor has said.

A University of Kent professor of sport and exercise sciences wrote in a published editorial that we have not tackled the underlying reason why people don’t want to exercise regularly: human beings have a natural aversion to exerting effort.

Early human history shows that energy is a ‘scarce resource’ needed to gather resources, fight off disease and power the brain, and unnecessary physical activity would reduce the likelihood of human survival.

To counter this, Dr Samuele Marcora has suggested we all aim to do regular moderate intensity workouts and, as a way to reduce the ‘perception of effort’ during exercise, take psychoactive drugs.

It isn’t as crazy an argument as you might think. Few people raise ethical objections to the use of psychoactive weight loss drugs, he points out, and studies show taking caffeine is effective for workout motivation.

Dr Marcora is also suggesting studies into the effect other psychoactive drugs have on workout motivation

‘Physical inactivity is responsible for twice as many deaths as obesity,’ he writes in his conclusion.